I believe that we are all born creative, entrepreneurial and a misfit, but we've been taught to 'fit-in'. On the podcast I try to shake up this thinking. That’s why it’s called The Design Your Thinking Podcast. Come join me and let's build something that we are proud of.

FREE Podcasting Course

Get Started with Podcasting.A Step-by-Step process to Start Your Podcast in 4 weeks.

No Nonsense.No need to pick a $400 mic or build a home studio with great acoustics. None of that.

It's FREE.No information is held back.​

100% No Spam. It's my personal guarantee!

Break the Narrative – How to Stand-out in an Age of Fake News? – Ram Devineni

In this episode I speak with Ram Devineni, an award-winning documentary filmmaker about gender equality, gender violence, Priya’s Shakti comic, storytelling, and creating art that rise above fake news and social media chatter.

Who is Ram Devineni?

Ram Devineni is a documentary filmmaker who has createda handful of renowned works of art. He produced The Russian Woodpecker, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

His most recent film, The Karma Killings, about the Nithari serial killings is out exclusively on Netflix worldwide and hailed as “Indian’s true crime watershed moment.”

He is the creator of the interactive social-activist comic books, Priya’s Shakti and Priya’s Mirror, which received the Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund from the Ford Foundation and supported by the World Bank, and honored by UN Women as a “gender equality champion.”

Why Should You Listen to Ram Devineni?

There are plenty of reasons why you should listen to Ram Devineni. Let me give the top 3:

He produced award-winning films while working a full-time career in IT.

Ram Devineni talks about the elements of the puzzle he had to put together to launch the comic book, Priya’s Shakti.

He’s got advice for you if you plan to take on your interests and hobbies no matter how old you are.

What Does He Talk about in this Interview?

How have you been a filmmaker?

How old are you? When did you quit your full-time IT work?

How long does it take for you to get a project completed?

What is Priya Shakti?

Why were you in Delhi?

What happened while you were in Delhi?

How has your perspective of Gender Equality changed in 6 years?

Can artists make a difference to helping the world separate truth from fake news?

How did you approach a work like Priya Shakti’s execution? – religion, gender equality, etc.

Describe Team and Agency please.

Are you a medium for NGOs?

Can you describe how you put together a team for Priya Shakti?

How did you make sure the comic book got viral and adopted?

How did you make sure your artwork actually made an impact?

Can you describe how you reached out to people to have your art accepted? Who did you have to put into your team?

How did you make sure the impact was felt in the rural areas?

Do you think the life of Priya’s Shakti is over?

How did you ensure the money was in, to make Priya Shakti?

Where are you from? What was your childhood like?

Have you had any influence from your parents or someone from filmmaking?

What makes you different as a filmmaker?

Who have had the most influence on you as a storyteller?

What are the biggest mistakes budding filmmakers do? What’s a complete waste of time?

How did you manage balancing two jobs?

Where can people reach you?

Parting advice to aspiring filmmakers or artists?

How Can You Listen?

Ram Devineni’s interview is available in audio.

Direct Link to Audio

How to Get In Touch with Ram Devineni?

Recommended Read

Priya’s Shakti

A new superhero has arisen in India in the wake of the brutal gang rape on a Delhi bus two years ago: Priya, a mortal woman who is raped herself, but who fights back against sexual violence with the help of the goddess Parvati – and a tiger. – THE GUARDIAN.

Show Sponsor

This show is brought to you by Thrive Membership from Thrive Themes. Do you have a website for your personal brand or business or your company? I have one, and it took me just 10 days to get the website up, along with the content. And, I did it all by myself with zero technical abilities to create a website.

In the 10 days, I was able to create a professional website, with email signup forms for lead generation, a complete sales funnel, a course, social network integration from commenting to sharing, and so much more.

It was all thanks to a ton of readymade design templates, ideas and so much more all available out of the box at just $19 per month. That is just under ₹1400 per month if you live in India like I do.

There is not a penny you need to pay more than just $19 per month, and you get access to over 11 powerful tools and over 270 landing page templates from the Thrive Membership toolset. To learn more, go to designyourthinking.com/thrive.

FREE Podcasting Course

I want to invite you to my new FREE Podcasting course. In this course I help you with everything you’ll ever need to start your podcast even if you had no clue where to get started. Go to designyourthinking.com/free-course to signup and get access to the course, a video recording quick start guide and a personal branding guide to help you design your personal brand from scratch. To find out more, go to designyourthinking.com/free-course

You can find more useful resources for audio / video creation or editing and much more in my Resources page.